Valentine’s Day for older Australians: love, companionship and (maybe) sex

Dr Patricia Weerakoon is an honorary senior lecturer at the University of Sydney’s Medical School, and is an expert in sex education, research and therapy.

To mark Valentine’s Day on Tuesday 14 February 2017, Aged Care Insite spoke with Weerakoon about the sex and love lives of older Australians, and what role professional and family carers have in this subject. Weerakoon broaches subjects including the use of protection to stop the spread of sexually transmitted infections, how to be on the alert for unscrupulous operators targeting the lonely and how to accommodate couples where one member is high care and the other is low care.

A quick content note: this interview references several sex acts, organs and processes, though always in a serious, scientific manner.